The native hardwood and plantation timber industry are both facing ‘deaths by a thousand cuts’ after a Labor-Greens deal to pass reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBC), according to local MP Darren Chester.
The Federal Member for Gippsland said the Albanese Government had failed to back some of Australia’s leading forest scientists who support the hardwood timber industry.
“Labor at state and federal level has demonstrated complete and utter contempt for the forest industry in Australia over the past 20 years,” Mr Chester said.
“Driven by his desperate need to secure Green preferences in the city, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sold out blue-collar workers in regional communities. Thousands of jobs have already been lost, communities have been destroyed, and the regions are less safe because we have lost the equipment and the skilled workforce that we’ve always relied on during major bushfire events.
“This latest deal, which forces the removal of Regional Forest Agreements, will result in the Federal Government becoming responsible for approvals and tie up forestry projects in more red and green tape.
“We’ve already seen the Labor Party in Victoria, Western Australia, and New South Wales capitulate to the Greens, but this decision will make it harder to source Australian-grown fibre and result in more imported timber products.”
The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) has expressed “deep disappointment that Australia’s forestry sector has once again been horse-traded on new national environment laws, ignoring the evidence showing Australia’s native forest industry is sustainable and already delivering strong environmental outcomes”.
“I have grave concerns for the future of our native forestry and plantation industries after seeing the new laws,” AFPA Chief Executive Officer Diana Hallam said.
“The loss of Victoria’s RFA last year has had a terrible impact on local jobs and communities and undermined new plantation establishment.”
Mr Chester said the EPBC reforms had also been condemned by the Tasmanian Government and timber industry workers and would result in further supply issues for Victoria.
“We are already dependent on other states and other countries for hardwood, but it will only get worse if the environmental activists can mount legal challenges using these new laws,” Mr Chester said.
“This is all in the name of political science. This has nothing to do with the environment.
“We have a world-class sustainable native hardwood timber industry in Australia, which delivers social, economic, cultural and environmental benefits for our nation, and those timber workers provide invaluable skills and practical support to their communities during times of natural disasters, particularly bushfires.
“Australia’s leading forest scientists have acknowledged we have the knowledge, the practical skills and the regulatory framework to sustainably manage our native forest, including for timber harvesting in small, carefully targeted areas.
“People and native animals die because of poorly managed forests, and the Labor-Greens aren’t just killing industry, they are killing regional communities.”
